The 24 best beauty advent calendars of 2024, including eight you can buy now

When can you buy the best beauty advent calendars from Liberty, Look Fantastic, Charlotte Tilbury, Jo Malone and other big names?

As Christmas creeps closer, so does the annual fight to grab the best beauty advent calendars as soon as they go on sale. It’s no wonder: brimming with exclusive, limited edition minis and often full sized products, most of the best make-up advent calendars work as a Christmas gift in their own right.
If last year is anything to go by, the Liberty, Jo Malone, Charlotte Tilbury, MAC, Cult Beauty and Harrods calendars are likely to sell out fast, so it’s worth registering on their websites right now. Sometimes it still pays to wait, though: the famous Marks and Spencer beauty advent calendar was worth £340 online last year but could be bought for just £45 if you spent £35 at M&S. You have to take your hat off to whoever came up with that marketing ploy.
Read on to find out everything we know about 2024’s advent calendars, including those already on sale, those available for pre-sale, those with waitlists open and exclusive reveals for calendars you can’t even pre-order yet. If you’re in a rush, here are our predictions for this year’s best beauty advent calendars, based on last year.
Most big beauty brands sell their own beauty advent calendar these days. For those wanting to splurge, Liberty’s is the ultimate treat, containing beauty gifts worth around five times its sale price – which is why it always sells out almost instantly. If you’re looking for a budget option, try Look Fantastic or The Body Shop. 
Our guides will always help you find the best product at the best price. No manufacturer ever sees copy before publication and we do not accept payment in exchange for favourable reviews. Visit our Who We Are page to learn more.
To choose the best beauty advent calendars of 2024, I primarily considered the stated value of each one – how much you’re getting versus how much you’re paying. Some are worth hundreds more than their cost, while others are similar in value and price. I also looked at the variety of products, how many full-size or travel sizes were included in a box and whether there were any limited edition goodies.
Read on for reviews and previews of all this year’s best beauty advent calendars.
 
£260, Liberty
Best multi-brand beauty advent calendar
We like: the beautiful box, based on Liberty’s tudor home on Regent Street
Liberty London is the original multi-brand beauty advent calendar, having debuted in 2014. Now on their 10th rendition, the 2024 calendar is already one of the most hotly anticipated Christmas buys anywhere. Liberty’s beauty advent calendars are known for their excellent value, often containing products worth four to five times more than the price.
This year isn’t set to disappoint, with products including skincare, makeup and fragrance from Augustinus Bader, Byredo, Skin Rocks, La Mer, Lisa Eldridge and more.
£160, Bobbi Brown
Best single-brand beauty advent calendar
We like: the inclusion of such a high quality make-up brush
Bobbi Brown’s Advent Calendar contains 12 skincare and make-up products packed with shimmer, perfect for creating day-to-night looks during the holiday season, all housed inside a golden box.
Inside you’ll find the Tiktok sensation, the Vitamin Enriched Face Base, along with a full-size Smokey Eye Mascara, one full-size Long-Wear Cream Shadow Stick, a lip tint and other bestsellers.
£79, Boots
Best budget skincare advent calendar
We like: it includes all the classics, like the Hot Cloth Cleanser
A great purchase for yourself, your mum or grandma, Liz Earle’s advent calendar is already on sale with a selection of 12 full size and travel sized products. It includes the famous Cleanse and Polish cleanser, a rich and nourishing cream containing chamomile and rosemary. 
Also inside, you’ll find full sizes of the Orange Flower Body Cream and Body Wash and Eyebright Soothing Eye Lotion. Travel sizes include a face exfoliator and cream.
£55, The Body Shop
Best beauty advent calendar for stocking up
We like: it’s full of staples for your face, body and hair
The Body Shop’s advent calendar is always popular and a good midrange option. This year’s is packed with 24 own brand products inside a stylish baby blue box.
Inside you’ll find the Avocado Shower Cream, Shea Body Butter, British Rose Facial Mask, Vitamin E Sheet Mask and a Hair Claw, among others.
£250, Harrods
Best luxury beauty advent calendar
We like: every day of advent is a taste of Harrods’ beauty hall
Housed in its iconic moss green, Harrods’ beauty calendar will make the most luxurious gift and festive centrepiece in the run up to this year’s big day.
Its 25 gifts include the Clarins Super Restorative Day Cream, a 111SKIN Rose Gold Face Mask, Elemis Pro-Collagen Marine Oil – and 22 other full sized products. Harrods will also sell dedicated Fragrance and Hair and Body Advent Calendars this year.
£82, Nuxe
Best bodycare beauty advent calendar
We like: the minis are great for holidays
Parisian cosmetics brand Nuxe has launched a 24 product beauty advent calendar this year, packed with the glittery body oils, shower gels and moisturising creams it’s known for. Everything is packed inside a sparkly pink and gold cardboard calendar.
It’s worth noting that this calendar contains travel sizes only, hence the sub £100 price, but it’s fun to have a small taste of Nuxe’s range of products, whether it’s the Huile Prodigieuse Florale, the Rêve de Miel Lip Moisturising Stick, the Merveillance Lift Concentrated Night Cream or the Prodigieux le parfum.
£445, Space NK
Best anti-ageing beauty advent calendar
We like: the scientifically backed formulas
Augustinus Bader was founded by its namesake, a German biomedical scientist and physician who specialises in stem cell biology and regenerative medicine. All that is to say that these formulas are supremely scientifically backed, focusing on reawakening aged cells without surgery. Think amino acids, vitamins and peptides.
Inside this 12 day advent calendar, you’ll find Augustinus Bader’s Cream Cleansing Gel, Essence, Rich Cream, Face Oil, Eye Patches and Serum.
£235, Cult Beauty
Best beauty advent calendar for number of products
We like: there’s more than one product inside
Having released four sold out calendars, Cult Beauty has yet to disappoint. This year’s set includes beauty expert-approved products (including 20 full sizes) and on day 25 there are no fewer than six beauty products, for the ultimate Christmas pamper day.
The 40 gifts include a Summer Fridays Lip Butter Balm, BYOMA Moisturising Rich Cream, Amika Soulfood Nourishing Mask, Gisou Honey Infused Hair Oil and mini Sam McKnight Shampoo and Conditioners.
 
£265, Fortnum & Mason
Best beauty advent calendar for products
We like: not just skincare and make-up, also a make-up bag and eye mask
This is only the sixth beauty advent calendar from the 316 year-old department store, but it’s already leading the pack. Their 27-product calendar is available for pre-order and is worth over £800 more than what you pay, thanks to each product being full-sized. 
It has one of the best ranges of any we’ve seen yet, with skincare, haircare, fragrance, home accessories, a makeup bag and eye mask. The curated selection includes Aromatherapy Associates De-Stress Bath and Shower Oil, Cult51 Molecular Hydration Elixir, a Charlotte Posner Hair Scrunchie and a Fortnum & Mason Votive Candle.
£100, LookFantastic
Best value beauty advent calendar
We like: so many of the products are full size
Last year, we considered the Look Fantastic beauty advent calendar to be the best value out there and this year looks set to top it. Products this year are worth £565, despite it being one of the few beauty advent calendars to cost just £100.
Inside are 27, yes, 27 products from Look Fantastic’s most luxurious brands including Sol de Janeiro, Estee Lauder and Elemis. There’s full sizes of Sol de Janeiro’s Delicia Drench Perfume Mist, Medik8 Press and Glow and Mac Lustreglass Lipstick plus useful travel sizes of Estée Lauder’s Night Repair Serum, First Aid Beauty’s Pure Skin Face Cleanser and Ultrasun Face SPF30.
£195, John Lewis
Best beauty advent calendar with prizes
We like: the amount of heritage, trusted brands
All the big names, with all the best products. John Lewis has again rounded up the best of its beauty department with a familiar edit of full size and deluxe bestsellers along with a few new entries to warmly welcome the festive season. Prizes hidden inside include 10 £500 John Lewis gift cards, 30 Elemis facial vouchers and spa breaks.
Its 32 gifts – one more than last year – include a Laura Mercier Caviar Stick, Sunday Riley Luna Sleeping Night Oil, Bobbi Brown Smokey Eye Mascara, Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Lip Protectant and a OUAI hair mask. 20 of the 32 items are full size.
£170, Charlotte Tilbury
Best make-up advent calendar
We like: the mini setting spray is perfect for travelling
Charlotte Tilbury is being rather coy about its beauty advent calendar, hence the unrevealing image above. You’ll have to check the brand’s app to find out when it’s due to be released.
Here’s what we do know: the 12-day advent calendar will contain both travel and full-size products. We’ll let you know when we have more information.
£250, Space NK
Best beauty advent calendar for trying new brands
We like: the majority of products are from luxury brands
This year’s curated collection will offer everything Space NK is known for: products from Paula’s Choice, Summer Fridays, Olaplex and Drunk Elephant. It’s worth more than £1,200 – that’s £200 more than last year’s version – making it one of the best value options on this list.
In terms of products, you can look forward to a personal favourite of mine, the Medik8 Hydr8 B5 Intense, plus an Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush and Color Wow’s Extra Strength Dream Coat. Of the 34 products, 23 of them are full size.
£199, Elemis
Best skincare advent calendar
We like: the nutrient-packed formulas behind each product
Elemis is back with another 25-product skincare beauty advent calendar. As with last year, there’s a twist: 15 calendars sold will also include a golden ticket with a voucher code for £1,000 to spend at Elemis.
As with last year, the products include a full size Pro-Collagen Marine Cream, a travel size Pro-Collagen Cleansing Balm, a Pro-Collagen Eye Revive Mask, and an Elemis cleansing cloth and headband. This is one of my favourite single brand advent calendars every year.
£195, Bamford
Best sustainable beauty advent calendar
We like: everything is useful – nothing will go to waste
For the first time, Bamford is launching an advent calendar this year, focused on bath, body and home rather than makeup, perfect for a home bird. There’s Geranium Body Wash, Lip Balm, Bath Oil and a Sky Fig Candle.
Everything is packaged inside an illustrated green and white box made from FSC certified paper, so you can recycle it or hold onto it as a keepsake.
£375, Jo Loves
Best designed beauty advent calendar
We like: the box will make an excellent Christmas decoration once empty
Jo Loves produces the best designed beauty advent calendars every year. Last year the calendar was housed in a giant bauble, made in partnership with Warner House. In the years preceding that, there’s been a house of cards, a wreath and a star. This year it’s a giant ski chalet, inspired by Jo’s own family ski trip to Whistler in Canada. 
Packed with home fragrance, perfumes and body mists, the Jo Loves 2024 calendar includes 25 products, including a gift voucher for a 100ml fragrance of your choice. There’s also an exclusive Salted Caramel Candle, a new Black Cashmeran and Tonka Fragrance Paintbrush and an Amber Lime and Bergamot Bath and Shower Gel. 
Waitlists are open for these calendars, but no information has been announced yet about their contents or when they will be on sale. Our pictures show last years’ calendars. We’ll keep you updated as and when news is released.
Join waitlist
All the information we have on this year’s Jo Malone London Advent Calendar is a waitlist and the promise of ‘an extra dusting of enchantment’. We suspect it won’t be too dissimilar to last year’s 25-drawer calendar, which was housed in an elegant gingerbread inspired case and was filled with miniature colognes, travel candles, bath and body products and one 30ml cologne.
Products included Myrrh and Tonka Cologne Intense, Blackberry and Bay Hand Cream, Wood Sage and Sea Salt Body and Hand Wash, Ginger Biscuit Cologne and an English Pear and Freesia Body Creme, among lots more.
Join waitlist
For lipstick lovers, M.A.C certainly delivered last year. Bursting with surprises, you could find familiar favourites and impressive newness for all the contours of the face. 
Its 21 full-sized gifts included five lipsticks, two lip pencils, three eyeshadow pots and two Mac LipGlasses. The advent calendar was sold on Look Fantastic, Brown Thomas and Selfridges as well as MAC’s website.
Join waitlist
A favourite of the late Queen, Molton Brown is known for its luxurious bath and body products. Last year’s calendar box had a focus on sustainability, using 100 per cent recycled materials.
It included classic scents like Orange and Bergamot, Re-charge Black Pepper and Heavenly Gingerlily along with deluxe sizes of the Mandarin and Spice collection.
We know what’s in them, but you can’t buy or pre-order them yet…
£195, The White Company
Best beauty advent calendar to buy as a gift
We like: the range of scents
The White Company brand is becoming pretty synonymous with Christmas and this year’s beauty advent calendar is stuffed full of signature goodies. Expect five full-size products, including an eau de toilette, candles in three scents, hand creams, lotions, body washes and more. The contents are worth more than £300.
As well as The White Company’s well-known fragrances, there’s also products with the Amalfi Lemon, Tuscan Grove and Santa Rosa scents. But traditionalists will be pleased to know there’s also a Winter Signature Candle, a Fir Tree Mini Reed Diffuser and Seychelles Bath & Shower Gel inside.
£250, Cowshed
Best beauty advent calendar for stocking fillers
We like: the excellent accessories – a sleep mask, scrunchie and a button gua sha
Cowshed’s Advent Calendar will be packed with skincare essentials to take you from morning to night. Whether it’s a body wash, exfoliator or candle, there’ll be everything you need for gifting, stocking fillers and overnight stays. 
But it’s the packaging that makes this advent calendar stand out. Each product is individually boxed with an easy peel sticker so you will be able to regift anything you don’t love, and the boxes will be presented within a wicker basket.
£250, Harvey Nichols
Best high-end beauty advent calendar
We like: there are a whole 42 products inside
Harvey Nichols’ advent calendar will contain an entire 42 items from 31 brands, making it one of the best value buys on this list – based on saving. It’s obviously still quite an outlay, at £250, though that’s far from unusual in the world of beauty calendars.
Inside, you can look forward to a 111SKIN Face Mask, Augustinus Bader The Rich Cream, Bamford Body Lotion, a mini Harvey Nichols hairbrush, a couple of mini Maison Francis Kurkdjian perfumes and a Silk Scrunchie from Slip, to name just a few.
£457, Acqua di Parma
Best luxury fragrance advent calendar
We like: the scent of Italy at Christmas
Acqua di Parma’s beauty advent calendar is hotly anticipated each year. Inside this year’s are 25 handcrafted Italian inspired fragrances behind 25 doors, for each day of advent and Christmas day.
You can look forward to the scents from the Signature of the Sun range, the Blu Mediterraneo collection and the Classic Colonia Collection as well as candles, shower gels, lotions and soaps.
£139, Manicurist
Best nail polish advent calendar
We like: the range of nail polish, nail care and accessories
Eco-friendly nailcare company Manucurist are releasing a “Let It Glow” advent calender this year with 24 full-size products. As expected, there’s a range of nail polish, but there’s also active treatments like oils and nail masks, plus nail care tools like nail files and cuticle pushers.
The colours include Hortencia, a pale pink, Dune, a beige colour and Crème, a milky off-white. There’s also hand cream, a base coat, top coat and a corrector pen. The nail polishes are all non-toxic and made from mostly natural ingredients, including potato, corn, cassava and cotton.
 
The key thing to look for in a beauty advent calendar is a good price which offers value for money. Look at how much the products in the advent calendar are worth compared to the price you’re paying to figure out how much you’re saving compared to buying each product individually. I’ve listed the worth under each calendar above, where I can, to help you out. 
It’s also worth looking at how many products are inside as some have multiple behind each door – but beware the difference in value between travel and full size products. Finally, it always helps to choose a stylish calendar like the Liberty London or one that can be reused like the Cowshed.
The majority of popular beauty advent calendars will be released in September, although a few won’t be released until early October (last year these included Sephora, No. 7, John Lewis and Fenwick) and an even more select few aren’t available until early November.
The best beauty advent calendars can cost anywhere between £40 and £600, with the upper end of that populated by designer brands like Dior. Last year, you could buy a decent advent calendar for less than £100 thanks to Look Fantastic, Next, M&S, Boots and ASOS although the majority cost around the £200 mark.